EDITORIAL: Remembering Joe Cabaniss

The passing of Joe Cabaniss – a giant figure in our county’s history – sparks a flood of memories for our community.

Many people will remember Cabaniss as a banker – he put in 60 years in the business, between First Federal Savings and First National Bank.

But it was Cabaniss’ call to public service that garnered him the most attention. As fate would have it, Cabaniss served on the Cleveland County Board of Commissioners in the late 1990s with Jim Crawley, Charlie Harry, Willie McIntosh and Joe Hendrick. Those five county commissioners merged the county’s three school systems (Shelby, Kings Mountain and Cleveland County) into one.

If you weren’t here back then, well, it’s hard to describe how that issue engulfed the county in controversy.

Those who supported school merger did so, for the most part, dispassionately. It was something proponents felt was right, but they weren’t exactly enthusiastic about the change – it was kind of like pulling a wisdom tooth … painful but necessary.

Opponents, however, were not lacking in passion. Understandably, folks from all three districts wanted to protect their local control and local feel. This was particularly true in Kings Mountain.

It didn’t take long for the issue to mushroom into a full-fledged war of words and contentiousness.

When commissioners delivered a letter to The Star announcing their intent to merge the schools systems, it was hard to imagine what would transpire. The fissures that separated the county geographically became canyons, as mistrust between Upper Cleveland, Shelby and Kings Mountain intensified.

In the middle of that storm was Joe Cabaniss and the other commissioners (Willie McIntosh ended up opposing the school merger plan).

The majority who supported school merger held fast. And despite withering criticism and a flood of lawsuits, the merger was enacted.

As we celebrate Cabaniss’ life, it is fair to ask: Was he on the right side of history? We believe the answer is clearly: Yes.

The apocalyptic predictions of school merger opponents have not been realized. Folks from all three of the former districts claimed they would lose the local feel of their schools; that centralized decision-making would lead to the lowest common denominator; that there would be inequality of funding based on whatever region controlled the board.

We see scant evidence any of these fears were realized. Each region of the county continues to show strengths: from Kings Mountain’s high test scores to Shelby’s legendary orchestra to the county schools’ vocational and athletic success and many more – our schools have continued to thrive under centralized leadership. As with every major change, we’re sure there have been downsides.

But those fissures that become chasms have now shrunk back down to fissures and may even heal altogether as we move forward as one system in one county. All along, The Star’s support of merger was less about efficiency and savings and more about, ultimately, uniting our county behind the crucial common aim of educating our children.

Which brings us back to Joe.

There were folks who probably relished the debate over school merger – but that was not Joe’s way. His was a conciliatory style. He preferred jocularity to confrontation. Yes, he was willing to stand up for what was right, but was much more inclined to end a conversation with a smile and a pat on the back than a sneer and a pointed finger.

He didn’t back down, mind you. But Joe truly believed merging the three school systems was what was best for Cleveland County.

We believe history will judge that both the style and substance of Joe Cabaniss’ leadership was that befitting of a gentleman and a strong community voice.